On January 1, 2010, the Swedish government changed the national rule on taxation of loans between Swedish companies and their shareholders to also comprise loans granted by foreign companies. By changing the rule to also comprise foreign companies, the government aimed to eliminate the newly discovered tax planning which is carried out by an owner establishing a holding company in another Member State from which he lends tax-free means for private consumption. These proceedings result in major tax revenue losses for Sweden since the shareholder’s income was not taxable in Sweden before the change. This change has been subject for criticism by the consultative bodies in the government bill and in the legal debate. The expression of discontent is due to the fact that the changes do not comply with the freedom of establishment. As far as is known, no one has analyzed whether this statement is correct. Therefore, this thesis aims to provide an answer to whether the changes of the rule on taxation of prohibited loans are compatible with the freedom of establishment and consequently whether the Swedish government made a mistake when changing the rule to also comprise foreign companies. Due to the freedom of establishment, it is prohibited for the Member States to take measures which restrict or make nationals refrain from establishing abroad. Intra-state loans are prohibited why they hardly ever occur and the taxation on loans therefore in practice only applies to foreign companies. Legislation in a Member State which only applies to foreign persons constitutes prohibited discrimination. Further, the high tax burden hinders nationals from taking advantage of another Member State’s more favourable legislation and makes the nationals refrain from establishing in other Member States. It is therefore considered that the rule is restrictive to the freedom of establishment. However, such a restrictive rule as in this case is justified by the aim of preventing tax avoidance taken together with the balanced allocation of taxing power between the Member States. Thus, the government makes Sweden breach EU law since the rule is not proportionate despite the justifications. The rule is too general designed since it is restrictive to all foreign undertakings and not just the holding companies with which the tax planning are performed. Further, there are other less restrictive solutions to the problem which have the same effect as the rule in question.

Šiame darbe atliktas ES teisės viršenybės principo pripažinimo tyrimas ES teisėje ir valstybių narių nacionalinėje teisėje, taip pat Lietuvos Respublikos teisėje. Pirmoje šio darbo dalyje atliktas ES teisės viršenybės principo ES teisėje tyrimas. Atskleista ES teisės viršenybės principo prigimtis ES teisėje, aptarta ETT praktika plėtojant ES teisės viršenybės principo koncepciją ir suformuluota ES teisės viršenybės principo ES teisėje samprata šiandien, parodanti ES teisės viršenybės principo pripažinimo valstybėse narėse maksimalią apimtį. Antroje šio darbo dalyje atliktas ES teisės viršenybės principo pripažinimo valstybių narių nacionalinėje teisėje tyrimas ir nustatytas ES teisės viršenybės principo pripažinimo lygis tiriamosiose valstybėse narėse. / This is research of European Union (EU) law's supremacy principle and fulfilled analysis nature of this principle and development of EU law's supremacy in EU and recognizing it on domestic law systems of member states and in Lithuania’s law system. EU law's supremacy principal acknowledging process of member states indicates that the constitutional basis of EC law supremacy principle should be on the basis of national constitutional law by the members of the EU, and the main actors who invoke this principle are national courts, especially Constitutional Courts of member states. The research of this job shows what level of acknowledging process took place in some member states. This level is result of assessment national constitutional provisions and judicial practice. One group of member states have a good constitutional basis and recognizing practice in the national courts i.e. United Kingdom, Sweden and Finland. Another group of member states have sufficient constitutional basis and recognizing practice in the national courts i.e. Austria, Netherlands and Greece and. Next group of member states have satisfactory or insufficient constitutional basis and recognizing practice in the national courts i.e. Belgium and Luxemburg Member countries of the same group like, Slovenia ant Portugal have satisfactory constitutional basis but partly recognizing judicial practice. Lithuania is taking a special place between Luxemburg or Belgium and Czech Republic, because Lithuania has a... [to full text]

Moksliniame darbe analizuojama tautinių mažumų teisių apsauga Lietuvoje. Kadangi tautinių mažumų teisės yra žmogaus teisių dalis, todėl ir visa analizė remiasi būtent žmogaus teisėmis.Tautinių mažumų teisių netinkamas įgyvendinimas įrodytų, kad Lietuvoje ši teisinės sistemos dalis nėra tinkamai įtvirtinta, o teisės aktai nors ir priimti, bet įgyvendinami blogai juos pritaikant. Remiantis nacionaliniais ir tarptautiniais teisės aktais siekiama išanalizuoti, tautinių mažumų teisių įtvirtinimą ir įgyvendinimą Lietuvoje. Tautinių mažumų teisių apsauga yra aktuali teisinė problema, kuriai didžiulę įtaką daro ES teisė. Problemą bandoma reguliuoti priimamais nacionaliniais teisės aktais, o taip pat ir tarptautiniais, tačiau kol ši sistema yra su spragomis, tol žmogaus teisės, tautinių mažumų teisių apsaugos srityje bus pažeidinėjamos netinkamai jas įgyvendinant. Šiame darbe siekiama apžvelgti tautinių mažumų sąvoką istoriniu aspektu, įvykdyti objektyvių ir subjektyvių kriterijų analizę, kuriais paremtas tautinių mažumų egzistavimas. Tautinių mažumų konstitucinis statusas demokratinėje visuomenėje analizuojamas per lygiateisiškumo principą, lyginant su diskriminavimo draudimu. Gilinamasi į nacionalinius ir tarptautinius teisės aktus reguliuojančius tautinių mažumų teises, o taip pat analizuojami diskriminacijos, kaip žmogaus teisių pažeidimo, teisinius aspektus. / The research analysis the protection of ethnic minority rights in Lithuania. Ethnic minority rights are a part of human rights therefore the whole analysis is based precisely on human rights. The law implementation of national minorities in Lithuania is analyzed based on national and international law acts. This analysis shows that the protection and implementation of ethnic minority rights is a relevant legal issue, largely influenced by the law of the European Union. This issue is regulated by adopting national and international law acts, however, as long as the transposition of the legal acts into the national law is not without flaws, the human rights in the field of ethnic minority right protection will be vulnerable to an improper implementation. In research ethnic minority conception is discussed, analyzing its historic aspect. It’s also analyzes the constitutional status of ethnic minorities in a democratic society with reference to principle of equality in compare with prohibition of discrimination. Research analyzes an international regulation in the field of ethnic minority right protection, specifically the establishment of ethnic minority rights in the European Union legislation and in the frameworks of the United Nations. And also an ordinary legislative regulation in the field of ethnic minority right protection is discussed.

This diploma thesis deals with the topic concerning regulation of launching medical devices onto the market with regard to the analysis of key regulatory framework. The aim of the thesis is to find out if the legal framework really fulfils its de lege ferenda objectives. The purpose of this thesis is to confirm or disprove a hypothesis that the regulation of launching medical devices onto the market is sufficient and effective from the point of view of consumer protection and interests of other stakeholders. Secondary aim of this diploma thesis is to confirm or disprove a hypothesis that the harmonization of legal framework in the EU is appropriate and effective. These hypothesis are to a certain extent following up the verification of four essential goals that should be reached by the regulation. One of the key aims is assuring the safety of the products, enabling them to move freely in terms of the internal market of the EU and assuring that the consumer isn't misled when deciding about his optimal situation. Besides that the regulation shouldn't unnecessarily slow down the activities of businesses and inappropriately limit their innovation potential. The diploma thesis has a critical point of view concerning some aspects of this regulation and in the end the author suggests some proposals in order to improve the current practice.

Legal provisions on cybercrime in the European Union Abstract This thesis deals with a complex phenomenon of cybercrime from the perspective of legal provisions of the European Union. Therefore, the thesis presents the fundamental features of cybercrime and presents the fundamental typology of this crime, which is supplemented by examples of the most common crimes. This general framework describing cybercrime is followed by an analysis of the legal provisions of the international law and Union law. Witihin the framework of the international legal provisions the thesis presents the activities of the universal organizations, in particular the Council of Europe, whose international convention on cybercrime is also subject to the analysis, and of the regional organizations.The legal regulation of cybercrime in the European Union is examined from the point of view of both primary and secondary law, outlining the fundamental orientation of the Union's policies concerning information technology. Following the clarification of the EU legal provisions on cybercirme, the thesis also presents the legal framework of such area within the Canadian law. Canada has been chosen in view of the fact that belongs between signatories to the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime and is actively involved in cyber security....

Impact of Brexit on Private International Law Abstract The thesis deals with the withdrawal of Great Britain from the European Union (Brexit) and analyses its consequences on private international law. Prior to Brexit, private international law in Czech-British relations was covered mostly by EU regulations. Great Britain ceased to apply regulations such as Brussels Ibis, Rome I and Rome II under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement from 1 January 2021. The aim of the thesis is to identify and analyse possible substitutes for those no longer applicable EU regulations. Instruments eligible to ensure continuity of judicial cooperation in civil and commercial matters are the existing or newly concluded international treaties or the national laws. The thesis first examines the membership of Great Britain in the EU in a broader legal context, the procedure of the withdrawal, the position of Great Britain as a third state, the impact of Brexit on legal systems of Great Britain and on so-called EU external agreements. The following chapters focus on three essential issues of private international law - applicable law, international jurisdiction and recognition and enforcement of judicial decisions. The issue of the law applicable to contractual and non- contractual obligations has been resolved by the retention...

The principle of non-regression is an novel concept in the EU rule of law area. The Court of Justice of the European Union ("Court" or "CJEU") has recently discussed it e.g., in Repubblika (Maltese Judges), Commission versus Poland (Disciplinary régime applicable to judges), Advocate General  Tanchev in his Opinion in A.K. v. KRS (Independence of the disciplinary chamber of the Supreme Court). This paper examines the non-regression principle with a focus on the rule of law and judicial independence in the EU not least because it is understudied. Its potential is underestimated for expanding the reasoning of the CJEU, and the Commission as regards their approach to addressing the sustained attacks on judicial independence in the two Central and Eastern European countris of Poland and Hungary, but also increasingly, judging from the rising number of judicial independence and rule of law cases, in Romania. Maltese Judges is the first ruling of the Court in which the principle of non-regression appeared. In this landmark judgement, acording to Leloup, Kochenov, and Dimitrovs, the Court asserted "an entirely new "non-regression" principle in EU law based on the connection between Arts. 49 and 2 TEU, (...) and addressed a well-known lacuna undermining the EU legal order". In light of that ruling, it is useful to set subsequent research questions: What is the substance and scope of the principle of non-regression in the rule of law and in relation to judicial independence in the EU, and what are the recent trends in the Court´s case law whereby this principle has been invoked to address the rule of law backsliding in the Member States? Can we discern the benchmarks, in the form of substantive standards and in terms of time, against which regression is measured? Considering that, until now, the principle of non-regression has been employed principally with regard to judicial independence, could we apply the concept with respect to other EU values such as democracy, or fundamental rights?

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In October 2021, 137 countries and jurisdictions agreed on a common approach towards a global minimum tax of 15% on the profits of large multinational companies that is referred to as the Pillar Two Model Rules, ‘Anti Global Base Erosion’, or ‘GloBE’ Rules. This political agreement implies that member countries who wish to implement such a tax regime have to streamline its design by modelling it after the so called Global Anti-Base Erosion Proposal (‘GloBE’) that the IF has developed as ‘Pillar 2’ of its work program on tax challenges arising from the digitalization of the economy. On 17 June 2015, the European Commission presented an Action Plan for a fairer and more efficient corporate tax system in the European Union (EU). The powerful document re-defines the future course of corporate taxation in the EU. The GloBE Model Rules are an opportunity – an impulse – for the European Union to begin coordinating tax rates in corporate income tax among its Member States and to proceed further, in the near future, in the direction of harmonizing those rates. On December 22, 2021, the European Union (EU) announced the Proposal for a Directive to ensure a global minimum level of taxes for multinational groups. It follows the Pillar Two implementation planoutlined in the Inclusive Framework (IF) statement released on October 8, 2021, and the model rules published on December 20, 2021.5In this thesis the authors focus on whether the Global Anti-Base Erosion (‘GloBE’) rules, specifically Income Inclusion Rule, as set out in an Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (‘OECD’) Blueprint of October 2020, comply with the EU fundamental freedoms. This compatibility is tested based on two differentscenario’s. In the first scenario the assumption is taken that the GloBErules will be implemented directly by the Members States (Assumption A). It will be addressed by the rule of reason doctrine by analysing which freedoms are getting affected then making a restriction test, then justification test and finally the proportionality test. In the second assumption is that the GloBE-rules will be implemented indirectly through an EU Directive (Assumption B). This analysis will show that, even though the GloBE-rules conflict with the freedom of establishment, they could still be implemented effectively because of the considerable discretion granted to the Union legislature by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).7 The directive at discussion in the thesis is the Minimum tax directive 2022/2523.

Yes / This paper considers the definitions of spouse, civil partner and partner in European Union free movement of persons law in order to question the EU’s heterocentric approach to defining ‘family’ in this context. It argues that the terms ‘spouse’ should include same sex married partners to ensure there is no discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. It further highlights the problems created by basing free movement rights of civil partners on host state recognition of such partnerships. This approach allows Member States to discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation and is therefore not compatible with EU equality law in others areas. The position of unmarried or unregistered partners is also considered. In particular the paper examines the requirement of a duly attested durable relationship and its impact on same-sex partners wishing to move from one Member State to another. The paper argues that it is time to reconsider the law in this area and bring it in line with the EU’s commitment to eliminate discrimination on several grounds including sexual orientation.